Isack Hadjar on Verstappen’s manoeuvre at Silverstone: “I was nice to Max there”

Isack Hadjar started the Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit from fifth on the grid and was delighted to find that this gave him a better starting position than his Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen. Verstappen was just under one and a half tenths slower than the young Frenchman on his final Q3 attempt, leaving him in seventh place.

World Champion Lando Norris, who started between the pair, did not remain sandwiched between the Red Bull Racing drivers for long – Verstappen overtook the British McLaren star on his very first lap, and shortly afterwards he also overtook his team-mate, who put up little resistance. After the race – which Verstappen finished in the gravel trap due to a rear wing failure, whilst Hadjar finished in a creditable fifth place – the latter commented on the manoeuvre: “I think I was being nice to Max.”

“But it’s also good to be driving behind him, and I was keeping up really well until I suddenly lost a lot of speed,” reported the 21-year-old, who had to pull into the pits to get a new front nose. “I was almost two seconds faster straight away. It’s a shame about the race,” he sighed.

Reflecting on his team-mate’s performance before the retirement, Hadjar said: “It was brilliant to battle with him, and it was great to be right on his tail for a few laps, but then I lost everything. He was once again very impressive; he was fighting for the podium, which is brilliant. I just wish I hadn’t had to change my front wing.”

In an internal team comparison, Verstappen clearly outperforms his team-mate – the four-time champion leads 6–3 in both the Grand Prix and qualifying head-to-head records. Nevertheless, Grand Prix observers agree that Hadjar has so far cut a fine figure alongside the exceptional driver.

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